"I think a great assistance to her powers, like yourself, means she won't let you die that easily. But that doesn't mean you should slack off in the competition. After all, those people are so arrogant they might kill you just because they are bored."
The Adiphyte paced around the room, worry clear on his face. Then he said to the young man, "Do you remember that situation with the lion's dance? Remember what happened? What I ate?"
The young man nodded. "Yes, I remember."
The Adiphyte looked at him and said, "Bring me as much of those as you can. Probably... you won't be able to enter my room once the voting on the content of that competition begins, but you can bring the stuff before the voting starts. Bring as much as you can. Don't worry about me. And don't let what we spoke about here reach anyone else. Bring it here quickly."
As the young man and the old man were about to leave the room, the Adiphyte stopped the old man and said, "You have changed a lot. I couldn't recognize you the first time I saw you again, but I don't know what the change is."
The old man looked at him and said, "Maybe that is for the good. We are always changing, every minute, every second we live. You don't have to worry about others. Just focus on yourself."
The old man walked past the room and said to himself, "An unrefined sense, a potential battle-spirit sense, is terrifying. To be able to tell that something is wrong even when nothing is actually wrong... that is terrifying."
In another place, Alpha sat at the head of the table, surrounded by many of his men, reviewing the contest: its location, the money they would spend, and where it would be held.
Alpha said, "How are the preparations?"
One of the men at his side answered, "Even though it was very sudden, this competition has been received well by the public. Our surveys suggest that most people are very excited about it. In the past two weeks, we spent a lot of money promoting it and spreading word of it across the land. The outcome is much better than we anticipated."
Alpha asked, "What about the invitation messages? Have our guests accepted them?"
Another man responded, "Yes, our royal guests have accepted. But it seems the First Princess and the Third Prince are very skeptical about this competition. They declined it. Or at least, they said they might attend the finals after a couple of fights."
Alpha laughed and said, "How funny. They aim to take their father's throne, yet they are scared to attend a small contest in a small place. Very pathetic."
Everyone kept their heads down.
Alpha dismissed the matter and said, "Well, just so you know, to make it fair and more enjoyable for the watchers, the winners from years ago will have their own place, and the winners from the recent years will have their own place here in the capital city. The recent winners will fight here."
Someone said, "But the power levels are not that great. Shouldn't the capital have the more powerful fighters?"
Alpha replied, "No. It should be the most recent winners. The recent ones are the people the public still remembers, and the hype around them is still alive. It is not about power levels. It is about what people care about most. And from what I see, the recent title holders are the center of attention."
Alpha continued, "Have you caught all the people who tried to escape?"
One of them replied, "Yes, sir. All the recent winners have been caught. Some of them tried to escape, but they failed. However, some of the winners from many years ago have already passed away. What should we do in that case?"
Alpha fell into thought for a moment before speaking.
"That is rather annoying. This is supposed to be an old winners' contest, so having some of the past winners already dead is upsetting. But tell me this, do they have sons or daughters?"
One of his men replied, "That is a good idea, sir. Coincidentally, every one of them has at least a child or two."
Alpha nodded. "Good. Let them join the capital city competition. I'll be merciful enough to allow them into the beginners' division."